Earth, Wind and Fire does its job with eclectic show in Odessa

Published 7:03 pm, Tuesday, June 25, 2013

ODESSA -- Earth, Wind and Fire came to the Ector County Coliseum on Tuesday night as part of a benefit for the Ector Independent School District Education Foundation. One of the most famous bands of the 1970s and 1980s, they have gone through dozens of personnel yet have maintained their eclectic mixture of styles since they were founded in 1969.

The stands were not completely packed, but the floor was full of people munching, drinking and sharing convivial conversation. The brass section of the band was packed closely offstage, as if they could not wait to get onto the stage. At 8:10 p.m., the lights went down, replaced by a sea of green, blue and orange glow lights flapping like some strange neon crop that had sprouted from the darkness.

The concert opened with drums, followed by a conversational riff on the guitar, and then the main band members hit the stage. With "Boogie Wonderland," the sound mix was a little off -- the voices totally drowned by the instruments. But not too many of the audience appeared to care.

Many in the audience were not born when Earth, Wind and Fire last had a hit song, but teenagers in the crowd greeted each song as if it were an old favorite. The most simple and crudely executed dance move met with joyful applause. Often the band appeared to be performing different dance routines simultaneously, but again it did not matter. This is music that is infectious and simply fun, shown in "What Can Your Love Do For Me?"

At times the evening resembled an extended jam session, but the voices became softer and more strained, nothing to do with the singers, all to do with the sound mixing. Some fine tenor sax work took us to some ultracool, funk-jazzy club in the 1970s. Then the evening took a distinctly New Age feel with a long solo on a finger harp. About halfway through an audience-member shouted, "Come on, let's rock and roll!" and I am not sure what gig he thought he was attending, but the piece had indeed seemed distinctly subdued for what amounted to a stadium concert.

The harp continued but was soon subsumed by a mass flourish from the other instruments in a semi-successful call-and-answer segment. The lucky ones on the floor tables right by the stage did not -- as John Lennon once suggested -- exactly rattle their jewelry in time to the music, but they did appear a little bemused as the lead guitar took over in a blues-like solo that contrasted with the funk surrounding it.

Earth, Wind and Fire is refreshingly immune to being captured by genre and the outright blues took over with Morris O'Connor making his guitar scream with guttural passion as the bass and drums gave their slow downbeat in response. We then had a trumpet and bongos session, soon replaced by some R&B romance.

Whatever type of music you were listening to, another would take over. This variety and eclecticism was fascinating but did not allow for a single atmosphere to set in. All was fluid and a little disjointed, even while the individual songs were often jewels of their type. The gritty sensuality of the blues sits a little uneasily with gospel harmonies accompanied by a massive digital stained glass window projected onto the back screen.

"The Way You Move" had lovely close harmonies, leading to the introduction of the original members of the band who are left. They received a standing ovation as the band is introduced. Then came the big hits such as "After the Love Has Gone" and the audience became fully involved. "Fantasy" presented a wall of sound, gorgeous and lush, and the band shook hands with adoring fans to the Beatles classic "Got to Get You Into My Life".

But then, just as the audience had become fully engaged, the concert ended. It was about 90 minutes long -- rather short compared to acts such as Steve Miller and Heart that sang for the Foundation for about three hours. But the audience was happy, laughing and clapping as they left the arena. Earth, Wind and Fire had done its job.